Four tips to remember when applying for your next teaching role

Looking to land your next teaching role? While educational expertise is widely sought-after, a great CV, application and interview are key to beating your competition and securing the job that you want. In order to help you best prepare to take on your next career venture, here are four top tips you’ll want to remember when applying for a teaching role.

Update your CV

As a qualified teacher, you already have plenty of valuable experience and impressive qualifications. However, it’s important whenever you’re applying for a new job to make sure your CV is completely up to date, is succinct, and perfectly showcases all your best skills and assets.

To ensure that your experience stands out, you’ll want to make sure that your most recent teaching post is recorded at the top of your CV. This way, your potential employer will see immediately that you have recent, relevant skills that will be useful to the role.

Write a winning application

Once your prospective employer has scanned your CV and identified it as one of interest, they’ll want to take a look at your supporting application letter. This is important to include, as it could mean the difference between securing the role, or losing out to someone who did include supporting documents.

As well as summing up your experience, you’ll want to make sure that you detail your career goals and reasons for applying for the role. This is also a great opportunity to mention any experience non-specific to teaching that may have equipped you with relevant, transferable skills. Make sure that the letter is tailored to fit the job specification, to keep it concise and to avoid including any unnecessary details.

Give a great interview

Been invited to interview? Congratulations! This is your time to shine, so you’re going to want to make sure that you’re well-prepared for any and every question that could possibly come your way.

Don’t forget to thoroughly research the institution that you’re applying to, as well as the position that you’re applying for. You’ll also want to consider preparing a portfolio of your past experience and researching the school district.

For a top tip, remember to spend some time preparing yourself to answer interview questions using the STAR method. It’s a good idea to identify some past situations, tasks, actions, and results, before heading into your interview, so that you’re not caught off guard when faced with behaviour-focused questions.

Communicate your passion for teaching

It’s important to apply for your next teaching role with a well-written, professional CV and cover letter, and to prepare yourself thoroughly for common interview questions. However, once you’ve got these three key things sorted, you’re going to want to ensure that you’re communicating in a way that allows your passion for teaching to shine through. Ultimately, it’s your love of the industry and passion for helping students that will set you apart from your competition, and show you to be a keen, valuable teacher.

The author

Harriet Young

Harriet enjoys going on hikes and connecting with nature with her two Labradors. Though she enjoys being vegan, she is adventurous and enjoys trying out new food. Skilled in PR, creative media, and content strategies to assist brands and companies in developing and enhancing their online presence. Primary competency: - Market and audience insight - Campaign planning and strategy - Digital initiatives that result in 'earned' media attention that is organic. https://www.thesixthdegree.media